Spell of Fate

The author of Spell of Catastrophe and Spell of Intrigue delivers “a winner . . . An off-the-wall kind of fantasy” in the third Dance of Gods adventure ( Interzone ). Trouble is converging on the imperial city of Peridol, and whatever dance the gods are planning, Maximillian the Vaguely Disreputable wants to stay out of it. No such luck, though—it’s up to Max and his friends the Great Karlini and the Creeping Sword to unseat the despotic gods, who treat the mortal realm like a giant chess board.